IWSG March - Heroes vs Villains

March! It's supposed to be spring soon, but what that means in Colorado is the most snow of the year. Right now we're having regular snowstorms on the weekends, which is rather annoying, but we usually have some gorgeous, warm days mixed in, as well, so here's hoping.

It's also the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's time for IWSG!

Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, this group exists to provide community and support to writers of all stripes and levels. All are welcome to join. Simply click on Alex's name above and sign up. Post about your insecurities or reassurances for others, and bop around to visit different people. It's a great way to meet new folks.

This week's co-hosts are:

Fundy Blue, Beverly Stowe McClure, Erika Beebe, and Lisa Buie-Collard! Be sure to stop by and say hi.

The optional question is Whose perspective do you like to write from best, the hero or the villain? And why?

You'd probably expect me to say I prefer the villain's POV, and I do get a maniacal delight out of writing from the antagonist's view, but I get something different out of writing from the hero's POV, and I enjoy that, too. And I write from that POV more often.

I didn't really answer the question, did I? There's fun in writing the villain, but I probably glean more satisfaction from writing the hero.

I've been busy with work, and just finished with the big annual event for my volunteer job (a half-day mini-conference with six speakers), so my writing has been minimal, but I finished a short story this past week, and I'm happy with that. I've had time to get some other writing done, as well, so yay! I'm calling that a victory right now.

My short story submission stats for February:

7 submissions

5 rejections

1 short listing

0 acceptances

3 releases

11 currently on submission

Now for some links. Bear in mind I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores is seeking short fiction in science fiction and fantasy. 1000 words and up, but they prefer shorter. Pays $.06/word. Only open for submissions from March 21 to 28.

Darkhouse Books is seeking mid-century murder stories. 2500 to 6000 words. Pays royalties. Deadline March 31.

Crannog Magazine is seeking poetry and stories. Up to 2000 words. Payment unspecified. Deadline March 31.

tdotSpec is seeking speculative fiction stories for Imps & Minions. Up to 10,000 words, but they prefer 2000 to 5000 words. Pays up to $25CDN/story. Deadline March 31.

Orbannin Books is seeking short epistolary horror for Letters From the Grave. Up to 10,000 words. Pays $.05/word. Deadline March 31.

Death's Head Press is seeking bizarro short stories for Breaking Bizarro. 3000 to 8000 words. Pays $10. Deadline March 31.

Verity LA is seeking a variety of written word and performances. Up to 5000 words. Pays $AU100. Deadline March 31.

Davetopia is seeking horror and thrillers about clowns, but the clowns should not be the bad guys. Anthology name is Fears of a Clown. 1000 to 10,000 words. Pays royalties. Deadline March 31.

Prospective Press is seeking stories of female predators. 4000 to 7000 words (or up to 1000 for flash). Intends to pay $.04/word (depending upon Kickstarter success). Deadline March 31.

How has 2019 treated you and your writing aspirations, so far? Do you prefer to write villains or heroes? Have you been submitting? Any news? Any of these links of interest?

May you find your Muse.

Creating Villains - A Guest Post and Book Release From Nicole Zoltack!

Today is release day for Nicole Zoltack and White Hellebore! She's stopping by really quick for a guest post on Creating Villains.

I find villains to be more intriguing characters than heroes, if the villain is created properly. So how does one make a villain everyone loves?

First, villains should not be just evil, just like heroes shouldn't be only good. Real life comes in shades of gray, so should villains.

Second, villains need to have backstory, too. They are villains for a reason. Remember, villains think they are the heroes in their stories. Make us understand where they are coming from, even if we don't agree with their methods.

Third, villains should be memorable. They're more than killing machines with witty one-liners. They have a mission, a quest, a goal. They may be single-minded, but we need to understand their inner workings to be truly terrified by them.

What villain is your favorite and why?

After destroying Skull Krusher, Nicholas Adams thinks Falledge is safe and becomes a security guard at the museum, watching a valuable statue. Unfortunately, the Egyptian statue houses the soul of a scorned witch, biding her time to have her revenge on the descendants of her cheating lover.

Kiya the witch isn't the only new foe in town as the drug that created Skull Krusher has now transformed a scientist into yet another monster, forcing Nicholas to don his Black Hellebore mask again and save Falledge.

Nicholas has no help this time as Kiya gains possession of his love Julianna's body and brings the soul of Justina, Nicholas's high school sweetheart and Julianna's twin, with her. Despite himself, Nicholas is torn between the sisters. If he can't stop the fiends from taking over the world and destroying humankind, he'd never be able to find lasting, true love.

Add it on Goodreads! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21912639-white-hellebore

Find it on Amazon.

Nicole Zoltack loves to write in many genres, especially romance, whether fantasy, paranormal, or regency. When she’s not writing about knights, superheroes, or zombies, she loves to spend time with her loving husband and three energetic young boys. She enjoys riding horses (pretending they’re unicorns, of course!) and going to the PA Renaissance Faire, dressed in garb. She’ll also read anything she can get her hands on. Her current favorite TV show is The Walking Dead. To learn more about Nicole and her writing, visit http://NicoleZoltack.blogspot.com.

Thanks for stopping by, Nicole, and good luck with White Hellebore's release!